Two talented Congolese ‘judokas’ are getting a lot of extra attention as Rio gears up for the games. They both escaped their country’s civil war and received asylum in Brazil in 2013.

Now they’re hoping to earn a spot on the first ever team of refugee athletes.

CCTV America’s Lucrecia Franco reports.

Now the top judo fighters who thought their careers were over when they had to leave their home countries, have a chance to take part in the first Olympic Games ever to include a cross-nation team of refugees.

At a migrant camp in Athens, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, announced the creation of Team Refugee-a group of some 10 athletes affected by the world refugee crisis that will compete under the IOC flag.

Rafael Salies on Rio Olympics 2016

CCTV America’s Asieh Namdar spoke to Rafael Salies, the director of Brazilian operations at the Southern Pulse, an investigative news service focusing on Latin America.